TMZ Sports - Page 43

Nate Diaz is being sued by a man in Louisiana who says the MMA legend beat him up and injured him during a street fight in New Orleans last year, TMZ Sports has learned ... a lawsuit Diaz's people believe is literally laughable.

Rodney Petersen, an amateur fighter, filed the lawsuit earlier this week in Orleans Parish ... where he's seeking damages for injuries he claims he sustained during the April 2023 brawl.

"LOL" ... was the response from Zach Rosenfield, Nate's longtime rep, when we reached out for comment.

Dave Portnoy certainly has a new favorite song -- the Barstool Sports founder went bonkers over Taylor Swift's apparent Kim Kardashian diss track, "thanK you aIMee" ... calling it nothing short of a "masterpiece."

Swift's latest project, "The Tortured Poets Department," dropped on Friday ... and there's one song in particular that has everyone talking due to lyrics that seemingly shade the hell outta Kardashian.

Portnoy -- a diehard Swiftie -- gave a passionate review of the tune on X ... saying it validates his longtime stance in Swift's infamous feud with Kim K.

Brittany Mahomes showed big love to her new BFF Taylor Swift on Thursday ... taking some time out of her vacation to praise the pop star for her new album.

Britt and her NFL star hubby, Patrick Mahomes, were on a trip to celebrate one of their pal's birthdays when T-Swift dropped "The Tortured Poets Department" ... but Britt was able to slip away for a minute to take to her social media page to express how excited she was for the work.

Mrs. Mahomes shared a screenshot of Tay Tay's album art on an Instagram story ... and wrote, "Let's goooooo 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽."

Micah Parsons is used to putting the hurt on quarterbacks, but it was the Dallas Cowboys star who was in a world of pain recently -- taking body shots from pro boxer AJ Graham!!

The 24-year-old linebacker was with the undefeated featherweight fighter this week at TMack Elite Training in Texas ... testing out the combat sport as part of his offseason workout routine.

At one point, Parsons and Graham ditched the punching bags for their own human bodies ... trading vicious blows until one of them backed out.

Seems LeBron James does indeed think he's passed Michael Jordan as the NBA's best ever ... 'cause during a backyard hoops session with his son on Thursday night, he bragged repeatedly that he's the "G.O.A.T.!!!"

LBJ and his 16-year-old boy, Bryce, were getting some late-night shots up at their ritzy mansion in Los Angeles ... when for some reason, the young James started chirpin' at Dad.

The teen called the Lakers superstar "trash" ... and said over and over again he would miss his next shot.

Taylor Swift is defending her brief relationship with Matty Healy -- which came under a microscope by overly-concerned fans ... whom she's kinda ripping into on her new album.

The singer appears to slam her fan base on "The Tortured Poets Department" on one particular song that touches on the backlash she experienced for dating Matty last year ... the track's called "But Daddy I Love Him," and it eviscerates everyone who chimed in.

Her lyrics go something like this ... "I just learned these people only raise you / To cage you / Sarahs and Hannahs in their Sunday best/ Clutchin' their pearls, sighing, "What a mess"/ I just learned these people try and save you/ 'Cause they hate you."

Taylor Swift is singing about sports and feelings on her new album ... which is why a lot of people think she might've given her boyfriend Travis Kelce a shout-out.

The singer's new album "The Tortured Poets Department" dropped Friday ... and her song, "The Alchemy" paints a picture of a blossoming romance with loads of football lingo -- and plenty of her fans are pretty sure it’s a nod to her athlete boo.

Just dive into the lyrics and decide for yourself ... "So when I touch down / Call the amateurs and cut 'em from the team / Ditch the clowns, get the crown / Baby I'm the one to beat."

People are convinced Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke let out a big ole fart during a news conference on Thursday ... and if ya listen to video from the event, it sure seems they might be right!

Baalke and Jacksonville head coach Doug Pederson were meeting with media members to break down next week's NFL draft ... when, according to a whole bunch of fans online, Baalke let one rip.

The 60-year-old was talking about how deep this year's quarterback class is and how it might help them land a good, non-signal caller at pick No. 17 ... when he suddenly paused.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce won't make their big debut at the Met Gala, because they're passing on soaking up the spotlight at fashion's biggest night ... TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the Grammy winner and NFL superstar were each issued individual invitations to the Met Gala, but both have RSVP'd "no" to the celeb-packed evening.

We know Taylor has a pretty good reason for skipping the event, which takes place on May 6 -- that's the same week she gets back on the road for her 'Eras' tour with a stop in Paris.

Ryan Garcia will live up to his King Ry moniker Saturday night in NYC ... 'cause the star boxer commissioned an insane iced-out crown -- with over 15,000 diamonds -- that he plans to wear as he walks to the ring!

TMZ Sports has learned celeb jeweler The Ice Champ is the man behind the royal piece ... making the crown for Garcia's highly anticipated boxing match with rival Devin Haney on Saturday night at Barclay's in Brooklyn.

"He was like 'let's create something where the champ of the boxing world and the champ of the jewelry world connect and make something unique,'" Ice Champ said. "We created a unique crown."

We're coming to the end of another jam-packed week full of stories for Swifties, sports fans and more. Here are some of our best from the Thursday that was!

On "TMZ Live" Harvey and Charles address the purported Taylor Swift album leak ... including the lyrics aimed at one of her famous exes!

Caitlin Clark has clearly had enough of Antonio Brown's social media antics ... she just blocked the ex-NFL player after he posted inappropriate things about her on his X page.

AB took to the app not once but thrice on Wednesday to say crass things about the WNBA's newest star following her Indiana Fever introductory press conference ... in an apparent attempt to be funny.

But, most rolled their eyes at the posts -- including Clark ... who straight up blocked the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers wideout for the behavior.

Don't stick a fork in Larcus after all ... Larsa Pippen and Marcus Jordan look like a couple once more -- as they were seen getting close Wednesday on a beach day date in Miami.

The on-again, off-again pair were spotted enjoying each other's company under the South Florida sun ... holding hands, snuggling on lounge chairs, and sharing beverages out of a coconut.

Marcus was also seen chattin' it up with a few other hotties in the area before Larsa arrived -- looking somewhat flirty -- but, take a peek at how he interacted with Pippen once she got to the sand ... it sure seems the spark between the duo has been ignited yet again.

Major League Baseball just handed down a two-game ban on Aroldis Chapman ... after it says his meltdown on Monday night was simply "inappropriate."

If you missed it ... Chapman went off on Edwin Moscoso in the eighth inning of the Pirates' 6-3 loss to the Mets at Citi Field -- after he felt the home plate umpire had botched a few balls and strike calls.

Chapman walked off the mound toward Moscoso after giving up a go-ahead, two-run double ... and had some words for the guy.

Angel Reese is no longer the "Bayou Barbie!"

Nope ... the new WNBA rookie says she wants to be called the "Chi Barbie" now instead.

The former LSU hoops star made the announcement Thursday ... just a couple days after the Chicago Sky selected her with the 7th overall pick in the draft.

The Jets are no strangers to bad luck (Exhibit A, Aaron Rodgers last season) ... and that's why star Gang Green fans went into a full-on panic when star CB Sauce Gardner posted a photo with Drake, fearing the famed Drizzy Curse would plague them in '24!

But, the young Pro Bowler is trying his best to assuage the fan's fears ... saying he's actually using the Drake Curse for good, to take down the 31 other NFL teams.

"I told Drake that he should bet on all other 31 teams each week," the lockdown corner wrote on X.